QUATERNIZED POLY(VINYL ALCOHOL)/QUATERNIZED GRAPHENE OXIDE COMPOSITE MEMBRANES: IMPACT OF FILLER LOADING ON PERFORMANCE

by Kiranraj Vaiyanan Kannan, Ramanidevi Balachandran, Wai Yin Wong, and Mohd Shahbudin Mastar @ Masdar

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https://doi.org/10.17576/myjea.2026.01.57

Abstract

As global efforts accelerate toward deep decarbonisation, anion exchange membrane (AEM) water electrolysis offers a versatile, zero-emission pathway to generate green hydrogen for heavy industries, grids, and hydrogen fuel cells. Pristine polyvinyl alcohol has lower conductivity and ion exchange capacity compared to quaternized polyvinyl alcohol (QPVA) due to low cationic region. Hence, QPVA faces several challenges such as lower ionic conductivity compared to commercial AEM standards, poor alkaline stability, excessive KOH uptake that causes over swelling and lower durability (membrane becomes soft). These challenges can be mitigated by studying the parameters of polymer modifications by studying implementing of nanofillers with different weight percentage ratio of quaternized graphene oxide (QGO) filler to improve ionic conductivity, improve mechanical properties of membrane while reducing excessive swelling and with degree of crosslinking can reduce overswell while improving mechanical strength. Here, composite AEMs based on quaternized poly(vinyl alcohol) (QPVA) and quaternized graphene oxide (QGO) were fabricated via doctor blade casting to evaluate the effect of QGO loading (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 wt.%). FTIR, XRD, and FESEM-EDX confirmed successful functionalization, revealing a homogeneous filler dispersion at 1.0 wt.% but particle agglomeration at 2.0 wt.%. QGO inclusion directly modulated the dynamic viscosity, surface tension, and water contact angle of the casting solutions. Upon transitioning from 5.0 M KOH activation to 1.0 M KOH equilibration, the optimized 1.0 wt.% membrane minimized thickness swelling to 4.88% while achieving a peak ionic conductivity of 10.79 mS/cm due to its uniform microstructural pathways. Conversely, the over-loaded 2.0 wt.% sample uniquely exhibited simultaneous increases in swelling (8.29% to 8.92%) and conductivity (2.95 to 4.47 mS/cm) as water pooled within agglomeration-induced micro voids. Overall, these findings demonstrate that optimizing QGO loading to 1.0 wt.% via controlled doctor blade casting yields structurally stable composite AEMs suitable for its exploration in efficient green hydrogen generation.

Keywords: QPVA polymer matrix; QPVA/QGO composite membrane; Anion exchange membrane; green hydrogen; renewable fuel source

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